Emerging Tech

For Crypto Publishers, Boom and Bust Are Two Sides of the Same Coin

Chaos in the sector has led to an influx of eyeballs but an exodus of ad spend

Bitcoin — As traffic rises, advertising spend has plummeted for many of the publishers that cover the industry.Kacy Burdette

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Over the last two years, as the value of the cryptocurrency market reached dizzying new heights, publishers that covered the industry shared briefly in its wealth, with exchanges like Coinbase, Crypto.com and FTX spending lavishly on advertising to acquire new customers.

But since April, declining adoption and waning consumer trust in the technology have led to a steep downturn in marketing spend, forcing publishers such as CoinDesk, Decrypt, The Block and others to adapt to a far less hospitable economic landscape.